


TWO WORLDS [Everlark AU]

by mockingpanems



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: Everlark AU, F/M, everlark
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-05
Updated: 2015-08-27
Packaged: 2018-04-13 01:49:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4503174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mockingpanems/pseuds/mockingpanems
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[Everlark AU] The City of Panem is divided in half. The rich live in the Capitol, wake up to luxurious meals and never worry a day in their lives about survival. The ones who reside in the Districts are the poor, the ones who struggle for survival and sell themselves for the Capitol's amusement. So what will happen when Katniss Everdeen of the Districts finds Peeta Mellark of the Capitol? Will Peeta's mother approve of Katniss' occupation as a "desirable"?  Read to find out!</p><p>WARNING: May contain mature themes at times.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter One – Katniss  
My heels click against the stone streets on my way home from work. The blisters that are inevitable to show up later are starting to hurt, and I lean down and undo the clasps on the heels, carrying them in my hand. I smooth down my red work outfit with my free hand and walk down the street barefoot.

This has started to become routine for me, unfortunately. Getting the catcalls from down the streets of the Capitol as I head home to the Districts. The Capitol is the rich, luxurious part of our city, where the wealthy reside and wake up to full course meals every day with their hair perfectly combed back, sitting watching the view of the city’s lake while wearing silk nightgowns. The Districts is quite the opposite; dirt streets and paper thin homes, hunting for our own food and skinning and cooking it ourselves. Not only is money normally scarce for the average family in the Districts, but the government of the Capitol makes us pay a tax every few months to ensure income from the families. Some families with more attractive daughters go to the Capitol to become “desirables” as they are called to some. Others call the women “night mistresses”, and the more rude Capitol citizens call them “sluts.” These women do this so that their families do not have as hard of a time paying the annual tax. I am unfortunately one of those women.

“Hey, lady. What’s shaking? Is that ass of yours causing the earthquake in my body right now?” One of the Capitol residents calls, gaining a few laughs from friends. I ignore him, but get a glance at the rude man. He’s wearing a grey suit, and a watch that is clearly from one of the Capitol shops. His dark hair is slicked back, thick with hair gel. “Hey, bitch. You heard me. Talk when a Capitol citizen is talking to you District lady.” I continue to ignore his calls, and am startled when I feel a firm grasp of a hand on my wrist. “Let go of me!” I snap. “Not until you give me what I want.” He demands with a smirk. “My shift is over. If you want someone, go down the street.” I suggest. A shot of pain racks my body as I’m suddenly pushed on the ground. “GIVE ME WHAT I WANT, SLUT.” He demands. My eyes squeeze shut in pain as it shoots through my spine all the way up my back.

“Hey, PUNK! Let her go!” Another voice calls. A boy with ashy blonde hair comes into view, as he grabs onto the other man’s suit jacket. “Let. Her. Go.” He whispers firmly. “Yeah? What are you going to do about it if I don’t? She’s just another one of those desirables. Why? Do you want her to serve you? You jealous, boy?” The blonde haired boy grins maniacally at that comment. “What am I going to do about it if you don’t let her go? I’ll knock you into next week if you don’t. I was good at wrestling in school, there’s no difference now. Then after that, if you still refuse… I’ll call the Peacekeepers.”  
The dark haired boy laughs. “You? You are going to knock me into next week? You are going to knock the one, the only GALE HAWTHORNE into next week? Aww, that’s so cute. Look at your little face, your chubby cheeks. I bet one punch from you is going to feel like a summer breeze…” He’s cut off as the blonde boy swings his fist right against Gale’s jaw. He cries out in pain, looks up at the thrower of the punch like a deer in the headlights, and he and his friends run away so quickly they’re across town in less than ten seconds.

The blonde haired boy looks down at me. It is then when I notice how remarkable his eyes are. They are as blue as the ocean on a summer day, crystal clear, but I can tell there is still a small trace of anger left in his eyes from the encounter with the other man.

“You okay?” He asks, offering a hand to help me off the ground. I sigh and nod. “Thank you so much. I really appreciate that.” He smiles. “It was nothing, miss.”  
There is a moment of silence before he offers his name. “Peeta. Peeta Mellark.” I offer him a small smile and shake his hand. “Katniss Everdeen.” “It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Everdeen.” 

I shift my weight onto one shoulder and it throbs in pain. I must wince a little, because Peeta looks at me with concern and asks “Are you sure you’re okay?” “My shoulder…” I mutter through gritted teeth. “I can get you some ice back in the bakery. There’s some in the back.” I decide not to object, because my shoulder is actually killing me. He walks me back to his family bakery, which is only a few paces from where I had the encounter with the man. A large sign reads above the building that reads “MELLARK BAKERY” in large fancy writing and right underneath it reads “Bread, Cakes, Pastries and more!”

As soon as I walk in, the smell of cinnamon and sugar hits me like a tidal wave and I breathe in and sigh with a smile on my face. Peeta glances over at me and grins. “We get that reaction a lot here.” I breathe out a laugh. Peeta leads me past the counter filled with countless cookies and cakes, and I stare at them in awe, drooling in my mouth. He walks into the kitchen past some metal racks and a large door, which I can only assume is one of the ovens. We enter a room filled with cakes, and large bags filled with frosting and ice cream. “This is where we keep the ice cream cakes and the perishable stuff.” He explains. I wander away from following his path for a moment to take a look at the cakes. One of the cakes is white, with small pink and purple frosting beads following the edge. Primroses are frosted on the top left section of the cake, and small handwriting has scribbled a label on its plastic container. It reads “VANILLA ICE CREAM CAKE, PRIMROSES, VANILLA CAKE BATTER”.  
“It’s beautiful.” I whisper. “Thank you.” Peeta replies softly, wandering back over to me with a small Ziploc bag of ice. “I frosted that one myself. I’m very proud of it.” “You should be.” I respond. “Thank you for the ice.” He smiles. He’s about to open his mouth in response when another voice fills the bakery.

“PEETA! Where are you? You’re supposed to be on counter duty.” An older woman’s voice is heard from the front of the store. “HERE, MOTHER. In the ice room!” Peeta calls back. The woman’s footsteps are heard following the route to the back of the bakery. “Peeta, how many times have I told you…?” She stops scolding him when she notices me. “Oh, hello.” She says quietly, smoothing out her apron over her flowery dress. She puts on a fake cheery voice when she says, “Peeta, darling… Who is this?” She follows with possibly the fakest smile I have ever witnessed, and Peeta’s cheeks flush pink; whether it’s from the cold of the room or the awkwardness of the situation is beyond me.  
“This is Katniss, mother. Katniss Everdeen.” Peeta answers. The woman, who I now know is Peeta’s mother smiles at her son the kind of smile that you would give someone who is really pissing you off. “Hello, dear.” She nods at me. I offer a nervous smile. God, this woman is intimidating. “I recognize that outfit from somewhere, dear. Did you just come from work at that place down the street? That place called The Desirables. The slut house?” Peeta clenches his jaw a little at his mother’s comment. “Mother…” He spits through a clearly forced grin. “Y… Yes, ma’am.” I murmur to the woman under my breath. The Desirables is what the building is called, I won’t lie to someone no matter how rude they are being.  
“She was pushed down by a man right outside in the street.” Peeta explains. “I managed to shoo him away, and she told me her shoulder was bothering her, so I got her some ice.” He refers to the small bag of ice resting in between my shoulder and my hand. The mother forces yet another smile, tilting her head at her son. “Aren’t you a lovely boy?” The bell at the counter up front dings, and the mother glances me up and down with a look of disgust painted on her face, before she smiles at us both and mutters, “Excuse me.”

After Peeta’s mother leaves, Peeta sighs and leans himself against one of the freezers. “I am so sorry about her. She can be so rude and manipulative and judgmental sometimes.” I smile at him weakly. “It’s alright. I’ve gotten worse.” I reply truthfully.  
Peeta pushes himself off the support of the freezer and gently places a hand on my ice free shoulder. “Katniss, listen to me. If we ever do see each other after this, I would like you to try and remember not to take anything she says to heart. I have had to deal with her for seventeen years.” I nod at him. “I would like to see you again, Peeta Mellark. I think you are a very kind person from what I’ve seen so far.” He smiles at me. “It would be a pleasure to see you again, Miss Everdeen. Perhaps I can walk you home?”

It is here where my mind pauses. No, he can’t walk me home. He is from the Capitol. Maybe he hasn’t seen the Districts. I don’t want him to be frightened with the truth and risk losing this gorgeous and sweet boy. Katniss, what are you thinking? You barely know him. This could just be his trap to lure girls in before he dumps them on the street. He’s clearly from the Capitol, I mean look at that golden watch underneath his shirt. That is not Districts material…  
“Katniss?” My mind snaps out of my thoughts. “Yeah, sorry. I was just zoning out.” I say, my cheeks flushing pink. “I would like the walk home very much, but the thing is... I’m from the Districts. I don’t know if you’d be frightened by my situation, and I just I…” He cuts me off. “I’ve been in the Districts before. Trust me. My father goes there every day to work on a business of his own. Ever hear of the Hob Market?” I nod. “Of course. It’s the largest marketplace in the Districts. Was that… your father’s work?” Peeta nods. “He told me that he couldn’t stand to see all the hard work that the people living in the Districts had to do, so he wanted to make a safe place for them to trade goods that they’ve gathered in exchange for money or other goods.” He lowers his voice to a whisper. “It isn’t technically legal according to the President, but he hasn’t done anything about it.” Peeta shrugs his shoulders, and I smile.

Peeta manages to sneak out of the bakery without anyone noticing, and he grabs a loaf of bread on the way out. “Here.” He says after we’re a safe distance from the bakery. “Take this home to your family.” He holds out the loaf to me, but I hesitate. “Peeta, I can’t... I don’t have any money on me.” He smiles. “Katniss, consider this the equivalent of handing a nice freshly cut rose to you. It is my admiration for you and your beauty. Please, I insist.” I grin at him. “Peeta Mellark, are you flirting with me?” I take the loaf as he bows elegantly, the tail of his coat fluttering out as he extends his arm across his middle and ducks his head. “Perhaps, Katniss Everdeen.” He says sweetly. I roll my eyes and laugh as he offers his arm to be interlocked with mine, and I hesitate a moment before I accept. As we approach the Districts, Peeta says, “You know Katniss, I think we’re going to be excellent acquaintances.” I smile at him and respond with a not-quite-as-elegant bow, “I think so too, Peeta.”


	2. Two

Chapter Two – Peeta

I watch as she waves at me, approaching her house in the Districts. Her smile is bright and beautiful. Hell, who am I kidding? She’s beautiful. Everything about her is beautiful.

I head back to the bakery just as the cold starts to hit again. It’s still early spring, and a few dandelions have poked out of the ground here and there, but it is still cold some days. A jacket. I should have given her an old jacket. Peeta, you barely know her. That would be weird. I wouldn’t want her to be too cold though. I wonder if her house has insulation. It probably does. By the looks of it, the Districts homes are small, but stable. 

“You are not to talk to her, Peeta” is the first thing I am told by my mother when she sees me. My mouth drops open. “Why, mother? What’s wrong with her?” I ask. She scoffs. “She’s a Districts girl. I will not see my son fall in love with a dirty Districts girl.” She pauses. “How do you know if she’s just flirting with you to inherit our family’s money?” I laugh at my mother coldly, and say “Because I doubt she staged the incident with the man just outside our bakery, mother.”

“How do you know she’s not friends with that man…?” My mother begins as I walk to the back of the store to finish a cake, choosing to ignore her. She is still ranting on in the oven room when the bell rings up front and she stops scolding me to tend to the customer. I roll my eyes. My relationship with my mother has never been completely stable. One moment she’s telling me that I’m a smart boy and that she loves me, the next moment she’s scolding me over falling in love with a girl.  
It’s true, I do think Katniss is beautiful. Her job is the only problem though. How do I make it seem that I want her for her, and not for sex? Perhaps that is all she has ever known, people using her for their own personal gain and pleasure. I don’t want to come off that way. I want to show her I care, but how?

I wonder what she is doing for food. Does she hunt? Does she trade? How does she keep up her family with the money she gets from being a desirable? Maybe I could supply her family with bread and cheese buns, my own specialty. I’d have to make plenty of extra cheese buns, they sell fast here at the bakery. They’re best eaten fresh in my opinion, because I have this special sauce I make to put in the middle of the bun itself that, when it is hot, is super cheesy and delicious.  
That’s what I’ll do. Bread and cheese buns. My thinking is coincidental, because my mother calls from the front. “PEETA! We need more cheese buns up front!” “Yes, mother!” I respond, finishing the orange frosting beads on the side of a cake, and then taking out some dough from the supply room to start shaping it into cheese buns. We make a fresh batch of dough every couple of days, whenever we need it, so that’s how it gets its special taste different from other bakeries in Panem.   
Once the cheese buns are baked, I rush up to the front and restock the counter under the close watch of an impatient mother. I walk back to the oven room and pack some of the extra buns in a box, closing the lid. “PEETA! You need to go deliver that cake with the orange beads to Mrs. Fletcher down the street. She has already paid the price for the cake, so you can just give it to her. Understand, boy?” I grab the box of cheese buns and place the cake in another box, grabbing a plastic bag with our logo on it and putting the two boxes inside. “You got the cake?” my mother asks when she sees me heading out the front, and I nod to her before slipping outside.

“Thank you for getting the cake here on time, dear.” Mrs. Fletcher says, taking the cake from me. She peers inside the box and smiles, placing a wrinkled hand over her heart. “It’s wonderful. Did you frost this yourself?” She asks. I nod. “Yes, ma’am.” She smiles at me. “It will be perfect for my husband’s birthday. Tell your mother I said hello, dear.” The mention of my mother makes my skin crawl, but I smile back at her anyways. “I will.” I assure her, before heading back to the Districts to give Katniss her little present.

“Hello.” A woman says when I knock on their door. She has thin blonde hair and tired eyes, small bags appearing underneath them. “Peeta Mellark, from Mellark Bakery. I’m here to make a special delivery for the Everdeens.” The woman, presumably Katniss’s mother, smiles. “Come on in, Peeta.” She says, gesturing with one hand behind her.  
The house is small and simple. A narrow staircase is in the back left corner, just by a back door. A kitchen is in the other back corner, simple but workable. A mahogany dining room table sits towards the front, with four chairs, one of which seems awfully cluttered with stuff.

“If you’re looking for Katniss, she’s in the shower.” Ms. Everdeen says. “Do you know Katniss?”

Maybe? Yes? Technically I do. I did help her. “Yes, ma’am. I just brought over some cheese buns for you and your family. It’s um… a community thing.” I explain. I’m only partially lying. I mean I did bring over the cheese buns, but I didn’t want to tell Katniss’s mother that I was trying to flirt. I brought over some cheese buns so I can flirt with your daughter, ma’am. “That’s very kind of you, Peeta. Isn’t that nice, Prim?” She says, turning her head to face a younger girl, blonde hair like her mother’s, tied into two braids resting on her shoulders. The younger girl is wearing a flowery shirt, tucked in all the way around except for the back. “Yes.” She responds.

Prim walks slowly over to me, with a wary expression written all across her face. “Peeta Mellark, huh?” She mutters. I can’t help but just stare. “Are you trying to flirt with my sister?” She asks. “Primrose!” Her mother exclaims. “Is this how you’re going to treat a boy who brought us food?” “Sorry, mother.” Prim says quietly. “I just don’t want to become an aunt too soon.” She points to her stomach mockingly, moving her hand forward and downward in a C formation. “Primrose Everdeen!” Her mother shouts. Prim sighs. I can’t help but chuckle at the whole ordeal. 

Katniss walks down the narrow steps, and for some reason I feel my heart flutter. She’s wrapped tightly in a bath robe, her wet hair done up snugly in a towel. “Hi, Peeta.” She says when she notices me. “I brought some cheese buns.” I tell her. She smiles. “Thank you.” She walks over to Prim and I. “Tuck in that tail, little duck.” She whispers to Prim, reaching her hand down and tucking in the back of Prim’s shirt. Prim rolls her eyes.

“So tell me, Peeta. How old are you?” Prim asks with a sly smirk on her face. “Seventeen.” I answer. “Ahhh! Well, it just so happens that my good sister KATNISS here just turned seventeen a few months ago!” Prim glances over at Katniss and grins. “Prim...” Katniss says in an annoyed tone, but she looks up at me and grins. I may just be seeing something, but I’m sure her cheeks turn a slight shade of pink.

“Tuck in your tails when you fuck...” She murmurs to the two of us. “PRIMROSE EVERDEEN! I DID NOT JUST HEAR THAT WORD COME OUT OF YOUR MOUTH, YOUNG LADY.” Her mother snaps. “UPSTAIRS, NOW.” She demands. Prim rolls her eyes and groans. She stomps her feet up the steps, but before her face disappears behind the stairs, she gives me a sly wink.

Their mother sighs. “Sorry you had to see that, Peeta.” I smile at her. “It’s alright, Ms. Everdeen. I’ve… I’ve seen worse.” She smiles at me sympathetically and places a hand on my shoulder. “You seem like a sweet boy. We would love to get to know you and your family a little more.” I nod. “I would have to speak with my parents, but perhaps we could invite your family to dinner at our home.” I suggest. Ms. Everdeen smiles. “We would be delighted to attend, the rest of your family willing to let us come over, that is.” “I will speak to my parents.” I assure her.

“Thank you so much for the cheese buns, Peeta.” She says as she escorts me out the door. “They will go perfectly with the lamb stew we’re having tonight.” I nod. “It was my pleasure, ma’am. My advice would be that if there are any left after the lamb stew you’re having, the cheese buns are best served warm.” She nods. “I will keep that in mind. Although the way Katniss has been looking at that box makes me believe there won’t be many left.” We laugh.

I leave the Everdeen household with my heart racing from excitement and love. Can I truly be in love with Katniss this early into our acquaintance? It seems so soon, so rash, so sudden.   
I can only hope my parents will approve of my hopeful invite of the Everdeens to our home.


End file.
